Raspberry-like Pt clusters with controlled spacing produced by deposition of loaded block copolymer micelles from supercritical CO2

•We present a “one-pot” supercritical approach to deposit Pt nanoclusters regularly.•Pt nanoparticles and block copolymer micelles are both formed in supercritical CO2.•Pt nanoparticles decorate the core of micelles, which are deposited on model surface.•Deposited Pt nanoparticles form raspberry-like clusters with controlled spacing.•The method lacks any issues of residual solvent due to nature of supercritical CO2.

We present a “one-pot” supercritical approach for creating organized metal nanoparticle arrays. For this an improved method of deposition of micelles formed by semifluorinated poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(perfluoroalkyl methacrylate) diblock copolymers in supercritical CO2 solution is applied. The presented approach provides metal clusters with a controlled inter-particle spacing and relatively narrow size distributions in a single-step “one-pot” process during which the micelle formation proceeds simultaneously with organometallic Pt-precursor dissolution and reduction inside the high-pressure vessel containing a proper substrate. Subsequent decompression of the vessel results in patterned clusters of reduced metallic nanoparticles on the substrate. Presented approach of producing such raspberry-like Pt clusters is relatively simple as compared to other time-consuming multi-step processes, and the resulting structures seem to be promising for electro-catalytical applications.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide